Piano Man
by Bokunenjin
Summary: Oneshot look into Allen and Lenalee's relationship. Lenalee comes across Allen playing the piano late at night, sleepless from the bad dreams they both continue to have. Set after manga #184. The angsty cuteness might hurt. Not a pairing.


So inspired by Piano Man by Billy Joel it isn't funny. I heard the song after forgetting about it for years… then immediately sat down and binge-wrote this scratch to finish. You try listening to Piano Man on loop for 6 hours and see if YOU'RE still sane.

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_Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight. _

_Well, we're all in the mood for a melody, and you've got us feeling alright._

If it was possible for one to feel at ease when not in control of one's body, it was this. Allen hummed lightly to himself as his fingers danced across the keys innately, the music it produced resonating with that already playing in his soul. Even after all this time, he couldn't explain how he knew how to do what he did. It just felt natural, scarily so. Anything that popped into his head it seemed his fingers knew how to turn into melody.

He found himself doing this a lot now, waking from a dream he couldn't remember only to wander to this room and play until morning. He supposed being on recovery leave from any missions since being impaled left him little other choice than sheer boredom. He smiled quietly to himself as his eyes skimmed over the black piano in front of him, never faltering from his playing. That Komui…

Soon after moving to the new headquarters, Supervisor Komui with an ecstatic Johnny had led him further and further upstairs, promising a good surprise. Eventually, they had brought him here and Johnny had been practically bouncing with eagerness to see his expression.

"_It's a music room, with a piano! Just for you! We had it special ordered! You know, since you aren't always allowed into the Ark's…"_

Lenalee had been there and smiling as well at the awkward smile Allen had gotten, but he ended up appreciating the gift far more than he would have guessed. Actually, he had been rather worried that the only piano he knew how to play was the Ark's. But as soon as he had sat at this one he knew what to do, so that obviously wasn't the case. It felt like a part of his soul that was always denied could be shone here and it warmed him.

He was so lost in his playing that he didn't notice another presence in the room until it quietly asked, "Allen?"

He paused, startled. "Oh. Good… morning, Lenalee?" he asked politely though somewhat guiltily, not knowing the time.

She giggled. "Evening still works, too. I woke up and heard you playing, so…"

"Oh, sorry," he answered automatically. "If I woke you that is.." He smiled absently down at the keys in front of him. "I've been waking in the middle of the night a lot lately it seems, and playing this piano seems to help."

Curious and a bit concerned, she walked over to him and sat down at the piano bench. "Have you been having bad dreams lately?"She was clad in civilian clothes, a black, high-collared dress with wide lace.

He jolted as if it brought something unpleasant to his mind. "Mmm, I guess," he conceded with a guilty grin. "But I can't really remember any of it."

Lenalee's eyes saddened and she looked at the floor with a dimmed expression. "I understand that," she murmured, and suddenly he remembered the night when she had flung herself at him, crying at the dream she had had of the end of the world and him.

A thought came to him. "Ah, Lenalee, is that why you-?"

"Sort of," she said, smiling to reassure him. "It's different now, but…" she faltered. "Still in the end the same."

Instinctively he reached out and gently laid a hand over hers. "I'm sorry."

Something about that contact seemed to startle her, like she was seeing something horrible again in her mind's eye. Lenalee sat up suddenly, forcing a smile and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Allen, would you play something for me?"

He blinked, surprised at her shifting moods. "Ah.. sure, I guess," he said, drawing a blank on what to play. He held his hands above the keys, unsure, but the chords came bubbling up inside him and he found himself swaying lightly to the music he had never heard before but somehow seemed to know.

Lenalee stood from the bench after a few moments of listening, not recognizing it herself, but she quickly picked up the base melody. The skirt of her black dress rustled around her as she twirled to the melody, letting herself get lost in it.

_"Son, can you play me a memory? _

_I'm not really sure how it goes, but it's sad and it's sweet."_

The music was a heavy distraction for him, but Allen found himself watching her dance, realizing he had never seen Lenalee in the sparring rooms. Maybe this was how she trained? The forceful grace with which she moved was the same as when she was fighting, except for her smile. It brought one to his face as well. She seemed so happy to be lost in her world of dancing and his music, happier than he had ever really seen her.

Eventually the song within him came to an end and Lenalee as well bowed out an end to her dance. "Amazing, Lenalee!" he cheered at her, honestly impressed with her skill and grace.

She smiled at him in thanks, then paused before stretching out a hand in invitation to him. "Would you dance with me?" she asked, and her brilliant smile made his heart skip a bit before he grasped her hand in acceptance, a reluctant smile on his face as well.

"I guess, but I really don't know how to dance at all," he said, trying to dissuade her, but she laughed at him.

"The music.. just feel inside you." He lost his breath as what she said struck him. So, it was like..? "Then just move how it tells you to."

"But there isn't any music," he blurted out, still held by her earlier words. Surely he was the only one that could hear it.

Lenalee blinked at him. "Isn't there?" With his hand still in hers, she dipped and twirled before drawing him to her, that bright smile still on her face. "Can't you feel it still, deep within your soul?"

He stared at her for a long moment, but it was true, the Musician in him never quieted now. The Dancer in her could apparently hear it as well, because as he was silent in shock she started humming.

Ah, she was humming his lullaby.. Mana's lullaby.

_Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinkin' alone._

Awkwardly, Allen followed her lead. He hadn't ever danced before. Her grace made him a bit embarrassed at his own lack of skill, really. But he focused in on his melody that she was humming, and after a moment to catch himself he felt it suck him in. It felt different, but with watching Lenalee he sort of knew what he was doing. It was the same heartfelt expression as his playing and it still made his heart sing in completion at expressing the words from his memories, but Lenalee was dancing there with him and laughing at his occasional misstep and earnest look on his face.

As his confidence rose, Allen hummed the melody as well and he automatically matched pitch with her, but the sensation of matching pitch with her hit a physical note within him, surprising him. The duet was literally striking a chord in him, something he hadn't expected. Lenalee seemed surprised by his sudden distraction, but she smiled and tugged him towards her while twirling as well.

Despite the awkwardness, he couldn't stop humming with her. He was just surprised. He found it easier to follow her moves as well, and as his melody matched with her he found himself taking the lead, having mastered the song first anyway.

They weren't dancing to anything choreographed or taught in classroom lessons. Allen realized that now about her earlier dances and it made him smile. This was purely from the heart to the music at hand, an expression of what was within. It wasn't perfect, but his arms tried to follow hers in expression to the music as they swayed, the synchronized humming of their performance reverberating in the small room. Two children of war lost in their melodies.

_And the piano, it sounds like a carnival and the microphone smells like a beer. _

_And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"_

Something tugged at Allen, and in response he grabbed Lenalee by the waist and lifted her cleanly above his head.

She seemed caught off guard for a moment, then burst into laughter at the sheer joy of it and being twirled high above Allen's head. He grinned as well, not used to seeing her so happy but content nonetheless.

The music was gone now. Gasping now, realizing that they had been dancing for a while, Lenalee smiled. "Allen, you're quite good."

"Eh?" he laughed a bit dismissively, ruffling the back of his head with one hand. "Not really. I just listened to what you said and moved."

She smiled at that. "You say that like it's hard." Lenaleee rested her head against his chest for a moment and he blushed. "I think… you're too hard on yourself," she said at last. "You're here so often because of the Fourteenth, aren't you?"

His expression became distant. "Mostly, yeah…" He caught himself and smiled at her, reassuring. "But I'm still me." But he could feel the sadness hiding behind his smile. She looked up and stared at him so pointedly he froze, quite sure there was nowhere he could hide from that look.

She dropped her gaze and Lenalee couldn't bring herself to look at him for a long moment, seeming trapped in her own thoughts. Finally she smiled sadly to herself and without answering she was humming again and drawing him into the dance, though not able to look him in the eye and anyone watching would surely say it was the saddest sight.

_And he's quick with a joke and he'll light up your smoke, but there's some place that he'd rather be. _

_He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me," as his smile ran away from his face._

"Allen, you're cruel," she managed finally, face tragic though she kept dancing. He looked surprised, but she continued. "It's like you're slowly dying inside, isn't it?"

He stumbled a bit, surprised, but kept up with her. "I could, I guess.." He smiled gently, her hair in his way but he didn't really mind. "I don't plan on it." He grinned, a bit cheekily for her sake. "Not at all!"

It made her sadder for a moment really, his deflecting, but he was humming with such a heartfelt quality in her ear she couldn't help but dance and lose herself to the foreign melody, not knowing his time on this earth or how much of it she could spend with him, but as long as she could dance with him like this it didn't really matter. She could swear the piano was playing except no one was sitting at it, but the Dancer in her didn't care.

_Oh, la la la, di da da  
La la, di da da da dum_

"They're so pretty," Johnny said, blushing fiercely.

Captain Reever hit him not too gently. "Don't sound so gay."

"Don't say things like that," Johnny whimpered back, pain evident through his huge glasses. "They really are."

Reever grimaced and his other two subordinates from the science team were also watching the young exorcists. "Ah, well, I guess so," he admitted sullenly. He kicked lightly at Johnny's feet. "You're still gay."

Johnny cried in protestation at that, but they all watched as the two figures below them met back-to-back and danced in circles, hands clasped and laughing at the rare joy of it. The ever-so formally dressed Allen Walker with his ghost-white hair and the black lace-clad, lovely Lenalee Lee with her newly-grown raven hair; they were like a timeless photograph of elegance and youth, something that in this war stuck out such as to make people pause and watch. The distant, haunting sound of a piano floated around them and weaved itself between their footsteps.

Reever sighed. "Those poor kids."

_It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday, and the manager gives me a smile 'cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see to forget about their life for a while._


End file.
